External Wall System (EWS1) Reports

Following the events of the Grenfell fire, the Government was concerned that many residential buildings did not have sufficient thought given to fire safety as part of the building process. 

As building regulations developed over time, not all buildings were updated to the latest standards. Although the Building Regulations 2010 did highlight fire safety, the specific wording which reads “The external walls of a building shall adequately resist the spread of fire over walls and from one building to another, having regard to the height, use and position of the building” left room for a wide interpretation and wasn’t prescriptive as to the types of materials to be used, how a combination of materials could cause issues and how the design of the building could increase the risks relating to certain materials. 

The Government’s initial concern was in relation to taller residential buildings i.e. those over 18m high and with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding, however in January 2020 it released updated guidance that “the need to assess and manage the risk of external fire spread applies to buildings of any height”. Given the relatively small pool of suitably qualified professionals that are competent and have sufficient insurance to allow them to undertake these reviews, this widening of the net to potentially many more properties has inevitably led to delays occurring.

Although the Government is set to introduce a raft of new measures relating to future constructions, there are still thousands of potentially unsafe residential buildings around the UK. In order to prevent a flood of buildings being deemed unsafe under new laws and address the concerns about the extent of future remedial work costs, the EWS review process was introduced jointly by RICS and key mortgage lending bodies, to inform owners of the extent of works needed and encourage remediation.

An EWS1 is a form that confirms that a building has been assessed for fire safety by a suitably qualified expert. The EWS simply stands for External Wall System which is the outside wall construction of a building i.e. the brickwork, any insulation, cladding etc. By having an EWS1 with a suitable rating for your building, you can show that it meets the required fire safety standards. Where the building doesn’t meet an adequate level of fire safety, the EWS1 and accompanying report will provide details of remediation works that could be undertaken to allow it to meet such standards.

Ultimately, the EWS process provides much-needed clarity around where works are required, avoids financial loss and helps to keep people safe.

As stated above, there is no specific timeline for having an EWS1 in place. However, there may well be other factors such as insurance or mortgage providers who will require these and so any delay in obtaining an EWS1 could lead to properties not being able to be sold or insured, which could lead to additional costs due to breaches of leases or other contractual agreements.

An EWS1 form will last for 5 years. However, it is recommended that if there are any substantial changes to the external wall system during that time, it is reassessed to ensure it still meets the required standard.

The short answer is a very definite NO. The EWS1 process requires someone with sufficient expertise to identify the relevant materials within the external wall cladding and attachments, including whether fire resisting cavity barriers and fire stopping have been installed correctly. The form therefore needs to be completed by a fully qualified member of a relevant professional body within the construction industry (a list of the relevant professional bodies is available).

It has been noted that there have been some rogue companies out there who have been using unqualified individuals or signing of reports with false details. All our engineers are fully qualified and can be verified with the relevant accreditation or membership body. Using unqualified or under-qualified persons is a risk to both your building and the lives of its residents.

The process will vary depending on the building and who is undertaking the inspection. However, the general process would involve 

1. Determining the construction of the building
2. Undertaking an inspection to determine the EWS1 rating and identify any remediation works – this may involve invasive works on the building itself
3. Undertaking any remediation works (if needed)

You can see more about how we deliver our services on the How We Work page

The ratings you receive on the EWS1 report depend on the type of materials that are present. Typically, a building with an A type rating will have little or no combustible materials in the external wall construction. However, the existence of attachments (e.g. balconies of facias) may increase the fire risk. There are 3 ratings for A type buildings

• A1 – There are no attachments whose construction includes significant quantities of combustible materials (i.e. materials that are not of limited combustibility or better); 
• A2 – There is an appropriate risk assessment of the attachments confirming that no remedial works are required; or
• A3 – Where neither of the above two options apply, there may be potential costs of remedial works to attachments

For building that do have sufficient levels of potentially combustible materials, they will get a B type rating. There are only 2 of these which are

• B1 – The fire risk is sufficiently low that no remedial works are required; or
• B2 – They have concluded that an adequate standard of safety is not achieved, and have identified to the client organisation the remedial and interim measures required

A specific rating simply means what is stated above i.e. there is no pass or fail with an EWS1. A low rating in itself has no legal impact, however it does indicate an increased risk to residents in case of a fire.

One of the biggest drivers for EWS1 reporting has been concerns coming from the insurance industry. Insurers are increasingly asking for an EWS1 to help assess their insure risks which makes total sense as a building that is an increased fire risk could cost more in the event of a payout – both for building damage and potentially increased loss of life. Insurers will therefore logically look to charge higher premiums for properties with lower EWS1 ratings. They may even refuse to provide cover at all if an EWS1 hasn’t been undertaken as they would argue they can’t take the risks. Given virtually all residential building owners are required under their lease obligations to provide buildings insurance, this is a high risk for building owners to be taking.

The current situation for tenants is that they are unfortunately not able to undertake inspections on their individual flats as the EWS1 has to cover the whole building and so are struggling to sell or buy their flats. 

Many mortgage lenders are asking for an EWS1 as part of their lending process, even though this isn’t a legal requirement. As with insurers, a missing EWS1 or low rating is leading to lower valuations or refusal to lend. This is turn means that there may well be a glut of properties on the market that aren’t able to be sold due to the building owners not having the required paperwork. Post-pandemic this could be a huge problem for the housing market.

If insurance is going to be difficult to obtain for a building, this will certainly make it harder to sell. If this is combined with lenders not being willing to lend on properties without an EWS1, there is a double whammy on building owners.

If the EWS1 recommends that remedial works are required, then these would need to be undertaken at the cost of the building owner. There is no obligation to undertake remediation works, but as stated above, having a low rating could be as bad as not having an EWS1 at all.

There is some good news in that there is Government funding (£1.6Bn) is currently available for buildings that are over 18m high. There are also bodies, such as the RICS, who are lobbying for remediation funding for smaller buildings so these increased costs don’t fall onto leaseholders by way of increased service charges.

In order to preserve our full independence when undertaking the EWS1 inspections, we do not provide any remediation works ourselves. However, through our network we are more than happy to assist in putting you in touch with relevant specialists who can provide you with quotations as needed.